Pearl Thusi calls on parliament to take action against gender-based violence
The actress wants government officials to step up efforts to make SA a safer place for women and children.
It seems like just about every day South Africans wake up to the news that a woman has been raped, abused, abducted, or murdered.
Pearl Thusi has joined scores of people in demanding that officials do more to end gender-based violence in the country.
She urged her followers to sign a Change.org petition that would hopefully get officials' attention.
"Parliament needs to address Gender-Based Violence in South Africa - Sign the Petition!" she wrote.
The actress, who has two daughters, has been outspoken about abuse against women and children in the past.
She revealed at a Women's Month event in 2018 that she witnessed firsthand how abuse affects families.
"As a teenager, I swore never to marry a black man because at the time, they were the only ones that I was exposed to and they were the reason I was able to witness women being abused. Of course [now] I know better but as a child, I made that decision.
“So what I’m saying, by looking at my mother’s abuse and what I went through in particular is that we need to stop comparing pain. Abuse is abuse, it needs to be nipped in the bud,” she said.
Parliament needs to address Gender Based Violence in South Africa - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/YZSZC5sqxb via @Change
— #QueenSono (@PearlThusi) October 25, 2020
The petition was started over a year ago but continues to attract thousands of signatures. It currently has almost 800,000 signatures.
"I am a man, that is appalled and frankly disgusted by our government not doing anything to save our women and children," one signee commented.
A woman added: "I am living in fear and nothing is being done about it."
The SA Women Fight Back (SAWFB) petition was started by Laura-Lee Gillion.
"Signing this petition will make our government realise that we are no longer tolerating this... We need measures in place that will aim to eradicate violence against women, rid our society of toxic patriarchal values, and ensure gender justice," the petition reads.
SAWFB handed over the petition to officials in March 2020. More than half-a-million people had signed it at the time. According to an update shared by Laura in September, they are still waiting for answers.
"We have not received any feedback after handing our petition into the regional director. We were told 3 weeks and it’s been 6 months... I’m so exhausted reading of women and children dying horrifically every single day yet nothing is done," she wrote.